Danish brewer Royal Unibrew is among suitors eyeing up buying all or parts of the BrewDog business, according to reports.
Royal Unibrew Group, listed on the Danish stock exchange Nasdaq Copenhagen, was one of several parties interested in BrewDog, Sky News reported.
The Faxe and Anarkist brewer – which operates predominantly across the Nordic and Baltic countries, with additional presence in Italy, France, the Benelux, and Canada – was said to be most interested in BrewDog’s portfolio of brands, rather than its bar estate.
It was unclear how likely a deal was between the Danish company and its Scottish counterpart, Sky News added.
It comes after reports at the weekend suggested BrewDog founder James Watt was preparing a bid to buy back his ailing company.
Any deal would include £10m of Watt’s personal wealth and could include preserving a stake for the thousands of ‘punk’ investors who have supported BrewDog over the years, according to Sky News and The Sunday Times.
Watt, and co-founder Martin Dickie banked £50m each in 2017 when they sold a 22% stake in BrewDog to PE firm TSG Consumer Partners for £213m.
Watt stepped down as CEO of the business in 2024 but retains a stake and a board seat.
It follows advisory firm AlixPartners stepping in to run an accelerated sales process at BrewDog earlier this month.
The appointment of AlixPartners was intended to “support a structured and competitive process to evaluate the next phase of investment for the business”, a BrewDog spokesman said.
“This is a deliberate and disciplined step with a focus on strengthening the long-term future of the BrewDog brand and its operations,” he added.
Royal Unibrew was approached by The Grocer for comment.
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